Governance & Electoral System
Who may run
It should be made easier to disqualify Knesset candidates who reject Israel as a Jewish state.
Section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset already allows it, but the Supreme Court has overturned nearly every disqualification. An amendment under discussion would lower that bar.
What is at stake
Section 7A of Basic Law: The Knesset already allows a list or candidate to be barred for denying Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, supporting armed struggle against it, or inciting racism. The elections committee votes, the Supreme Court decides — and it has overturned nearly every disqualification. An amendment under discussion would lower the bar.
The case for
- A parliament is not obliged to seat people who reject the existence of the state they seek to govern.
- The rule has existed since 1985 but is a dead letter, the Court having raised the standard of proof to near impossible.
- Other democracies ban parties that reject the constitutional order; Germany has done so since 1949.
The case against
- Barring candidates takes from a voter the right to choose who represents them.
- In practice these motions almost always target the Arab lists, meaning a fifth of the citizenry.
- A majority that can remove its opponents from the ballot no longer needs to beat them.
Both sides get the same number of points at comparable length. That is a rule of this site, not a coincidence.
What the next Knesset could decide
The Knesset can amend Section 7A by simple majority, like any Basic Law. It can also change the procedure: who may petition, what standard of proof applies, and whether the Supreme Court keeps the last word.